CISO Forum Intercontinental: A Global Summit on Cyber Defense
The CISO Forum Intercontinental, held at the siberXchange venue, brought together an exceptionally diverse and high-profile group of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and cybersecurity leaders from across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The event focused on transcending regional boundaries to address global challenges in digital security, governance, and resilience.
Overall Highlights and Themes
The forum’s primary theme was global cybersecurity convergence, emphasizing the need for international collaboration and shared knowledge against a rapidly evolving threat landscape. Notable sessions and discussions likely focused on:
Financial Sector Security:
With CISOs from major institutions like the National Bank of Pakistan (Alay Raza), Dubai Islamic Bank (Murtaza Miabhoy), and Wibmo Inc. (Satish Kumar Dwibhashi), a strong emphasis was placed on protecting critical banking and financial systems.
Geographic and Regulatory Diversity:
The presence of experts from different regulatory environments, including Africa (Lydie Ngo Nogol, Carmen Corbin), the Middle East (Muath AlHomoud, Ahmad Alanazy), and North America (Salman Ashraf, Maggie Calle), spurred discussions on localized risk and global compliance frameworks.
Emerging Technology and Risk:
Discussions covered the strategic integration of next-generation defense tools, with a focus on cloud security (Juan Araya, AWS), identity management (Rajan Barara, Entrust), and advanced threat intelligence (RECORDED FUTURE). The inclusion of organizations like Group 42 (Hadi Anwar) pointed to a focus on advanced AI and national-scale digital initiatives.
Venue, Speakers, and Sponsors
Venue: The event was hosted at the siberXchange venue, providing a modern, dynamic hub for the intercontinental exchange of security expertise.
Speakers:
The massive speaker roster was truly global, featuring a wealth of executive and advisory experience. Key figures included Ali Khan and Krishna Sastry Pendyala from PwC, offering broad advisory insights; Anna Collard (KnowBe4) emphasizing content and awareness strategy; and CISOs from critical sectors, such as Dr. Yask (IOCL) and Daniel Adaramola (Unity Bank PLC). The diversity highlighted the unique perspectives required for tackling issues from financial fraud in Pakistan (Arbab Masood Siddiqui) to cybercrime programming in Africa (Carmen Corbin).
Sponsors:
The forum enjoyed massive support from a comprehensive list of global technology leaders and regional partners, showcasing a strong public-private commitment to cyber defense. Premier sponsors included tech giants like AWS, BELL, IBM, and JUNIPER NETWORKS. Specialized security providers such as PROOFPOINT, VEEAM, GUARDICORE, and TENABLE demonstrated a commitment to providing advanced defense solutions. Regional and local support from organizations like the Durham REGION, Town of Ajax, and ISACA TONROTO CHAPTER highlighted the local partnerships crucial for community cyber resilience.
YouTube Playlist
For video content, including session recordings and executive interviews from the 2020 CISO Forum and related siberX events, please refer to the organizer’s YouTube channel playlists at: https://youtu.be/FVm0ZcN9Mmg?si=9_OPJ4uFAQ30WuX3
